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NVIDIA 8800GT Option for Older Mac Pros Soon?

Slapped in the face

ariza910 said:
This 8800 video card -> Apple and Nvidia still working on the software for it - it just came out a few weeks ago!
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Given that there should be nothing at all about the new Mac Pro which makes a video card for it incompatible with the previous Mac Pro, I'd say anger is justified. This perpetual and completely unjustified incompatibility with older systems even when the interface used is the same is quite annoying to users who might like to keep their computer for a couple of years but get a little extra oomph from an upgrade. If the Mac Pro's video isn't supposed to be user upgradeable, then it ought to be built onto the mainboard like in the iMac. Otherwise it's a slap in the face to give an upgrade card that can't be used in a system which is virtually identical except for the processor and RAM speeds.

G5 Power Mac PCIe video cards can't be used in the Gen 1 Mac Pro.

Gen 1 Mac Pro PCIe video cards can't be used in the G5 Power Mac PCIe.

Gen 2 Mac Pro PCIe video cards can't be used in the gen 1 Mac Pro.

Meanwhile I can buy a GeForce 7800 with an AGP connector and it will work in my IBM-compatible PC which was built in the age of the GeForceFX. There's something to be said for backward compatibility. Apple is not known for offering it and they're not getting any better about it.
 
This is very exciting news. While my x1900xt has been performing well gaming in boot camp, it isn't keeping up with the new games. Bring it on!!


Apple had to see this one coming. How it was overlooked is beyond me. They should have planned to have the card work in all Mac Pros from day 1.
 
How much of performance gain do we expect from this card compared to 1900XT card? Does anybody know? It seems like an exciting news, though. I had had no problem with 1900XT until I played Crysis. I hope I can play that game with a bit higher setting. :)
 
surcharge

pknz said:
Just wondering if they will put a surcharge for the privilege of using the card on the older Mac Pro.
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Well, the GeForce 8800GT for PCs is under $300 and for the Mac it's $350. There's already a surcharge there. And it's not even a retail card. The retail card for the Mac will surely be even more expensive. Expect to pay $400 for essentially the same card PC users can get for $250 -- oh, but they've added EFI compatibility which the PC will also be requiring in the not too distant future. I'm sure they'll find a way to still make them incompatible even when they both support EFI.
 
that's funny! bazillionaire steve e-lecturing some bratty consumer... but it doesn't sound like steve... maybe if he wrote "i suggest you doggonit calm down" then it would be real for sure.
 
Wild-Bill said:
And as far as the poster above who said "the 8800GT has only been out for a few weeks", well that just isn't correct. It's been out for about two months now. Apple has had PLENTY of time to get this card ready.
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Umm, drivers are the responsibility of the vendors and I cannot blame NVIDIA for putting a bigger priority on Windows drivers.

Wild-Bill said:
The fact of the matter is, they had ZERO intention of offering an 8800GT upgrade kit for pre-2008 Mac Pro owners. They'd rather you buy an entirely new system.
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Yes, and one nasty email shook them so much that they changed course right away. Darn it, they thought they could sneak this without anybody noticing.

With this much anger, please refrain from driving so that nobody gets hurt in real life.
 
theBB said:
Umm, drivers are the responsibility of the vendors and I cannot blame NVIDIA for putting a bigger priority on Windows drivers.
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Uhm, not with Apple.

Apple writes thier own drivers not ATI or Nvidia. That's one of the principle reasons why mac graphics are always behind PC graphics. The drivers from Apple are never as good as the drivers from the vendors themselves.
 
freiheit said:
G5 Power Mac PCIe video cards can't be used in the Gen 1 Mac Pro.

Gen 1 Mac Pro PCIe video cards can't be used in the G5 Power Mac PCIe.

Gen 2 Mac Pro PCIe video cards can't be used in the gen 1 Mac Pro.
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The third circumstance is the only one I find unreasonable. The first two probably relate to different firmware built in the ROM. Simply put PowerPC architecture and Intel x86 architectures require different code. Apple never has been a company that goes out of their way to ensure cross-architecture compatibility for hardware—with the exception of Pentium processor cards for the original Power Macintosh series.
 
what about the rest of us G5 users with pci express?

the company is "in the middle of bringing out an upgrade kit based on the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT solution for all Intel-based Mac Pros." What's more, this upgrade kit "should be out in a few weeks."
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Well this is great news for all Macpro users. Though I sincerely hope, they
will also consider people like myself, who own a quad G5 with pci-express.

I know it is another firmware yet (OpenFirmware and not EFI) but I would
really feel left out...

I have been also waiting for a new grafics card, and am not happy with the limited option of the ATI X1900.

I bought the G5 at the time thinking the pci express architecture would prove a future safe asset for upcoming upgrades,
I still run a GeForce 6600 in it...

Come on Apple & Nvidia, do the decent thing and don´t leave us out!
 
Great news! I'm fine with what I have now (7300GT), but it's good to know I'll be able to upgrade down the road and keep my MP for at least one more year longer than I otherwise would for relatively little money.
 
It seems that at least 50% of the complaints about Apple computers has to do with video cards.

Apple: please make all video cards on all machines replaceable so we don't have to hear about it anymore. Yes, surely only a small percentage of the complainers would know if you put in a cracker instead, but still...

There are surely good corporate reasons behind the card thing, but maybe people would be happier and you could sell updates and make money where none is now being made.
 
theBB said:
Yes, and one nasty email shook them so much that they changed course right away. Darn it, they thought they could sneak this without anybody noticing.

With this much anger, please refrain from driving so that nobody gets hurt in real life.
Click to expand...

It was more than just "one nasty e-mail". Know what you're talking about before you post. Nice troll post. :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Okay, question. I hope everyone is listening:

Has anyone actually TRIED the 8800, ordered from Apple, in the older Mac Pro and *CONFIRMED* that it doesn't work?

Reason I ask? The darn things aren't even supposed to ship for another couple of weeks. Yet everyone is nay-saying that they don't work.

Yes, Apple *claims* they don't work, but they also claim the 2600HD doesn't work, and several people have already confirmed that it does.

So therefore: Do we have any conclusive proof (other than speculation) that this card won't work? Because I'm seeing a lot of bitching and whining but no one providing hard evidence, such as "It didn't get past the bong" or "I heard a bong but got a black screen".

We need to know if it REALLY doesn't work before blasting Apple. Because Apple says the 2600HD doesn't work, yet it does. Geeee...
 
Now if I could update my card in my G-5 Quad I would be a happy camper. Apple really needs to get better at upgrades for it's pro machines. The cards can easily be swapped except for the small fact that drivers are not available.
 
ariza910 said:
What's with all the hostility lately toward Apple? <snip>
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I am tired of it myself. It isn't directed just at Apple, of course. It gets aimed at anyone bringing anything to market or tweaking anything that's already out in the marketplace. Anyway it's tiresome, narcissistic and juvenile, regardless of whether it's coming from trolls, spoiled brats, competitors, stock speculators or just ordinary people without any sense of perspective and with an actual and burning concern about some (possibly misunderstood) aspect of a new product.

The hostile tone has seemed much worse with iPhone and MacBook Air rollouts than in earlier times. In 1985 I don't remember anyone actually trying to dissuade me from getting a Mac512k. I remember a few people saying that it was pretty expensive. Which it was. The choice was mine. The choice is still mine but I'm glad I'm not a novice computer buyer any more with all the agendas that get aired out during a rollout now.

It's pathetic to expect from other human beings a level of perfection that one cannot even begin to approach personally. To those who are whining about the MacBook Air not having a Penryn chip: Do you think Intel and Apple sat down a few months ago and decided to make a MacBook Air? When, exactly, should they have started thinking about which chip to squash? Last week? WTF?! Because you can possibly make a half-assed peanut butter sandwich in the time it takes for a TV commercial to air, that does not mean Apple and Intel should consider your amazing skill portable to their project.

It's shameful to so disrespect the talent, spirit, skills and hard work of the people who show up day after day to help Apple and Intel (or any other companies) bring a new product to market.

It's reprehensible to pile on negative feedback in the service of a personal agenda that has nothing to do with the quality of a new product. For instance, if you hope your product bashing will drop the stock to your buy level, or you work for a competitor and think bashing Apple's rollout will save your own product from competition in the marketplace, shame on you.

Honest and earnest competition is what helps improve product lines. Product-bashing is not a constructive part of competition. The time to bash on something is back during project development when you try to tear the wheels off the prototype so they won't fall off the real thing later. The time for public wishlist-polishing is not hours and days immediately post-rollout. No engineer that worked on this stuff gives a flying feather what we think about the thing on rollout day. They are not listening, especially to juvie whiners and trolls. They're either sleeping or rejoicing that they lived through the experience, or patiently slogging through bug reports and trying to fix them before a ship date or maintenance release.

OK... steps off soapbox... I'm done preaching. I think that I hear someone playing Rogue Wave in the background... I've enough grace to blush :eek: but I'm going to post anyway.

"I've had enough of your sermonized speeches;
it was the food that I wanted."

--(Rogue Wave's Medicine Ball, in Descended Like Vultures).


PS and totally off topic: I just noticed a delicious improvement in iPhone sync. It lets you do manual sync of music and video now, which is my preferred way to refresh my selections. I am not sure when that showed up since I don't doctor on my iPhone as often as on some of my iPods. Maybe it was in the most recent iTunes or iPhone updates. Anyway I am sooooooooo delighted. THANK YOU Apple :)
 
zorinlynx said:
Okay, question. I hope everyone is listening:

Has anyone actually TRIED the 8800, ordered from Apple, in the older Mac Pro and *CONFIRMED* that it doesn't work?
Click to expand...

The developers at Blizzard (Diablo, Starcraft, etc.) use Mac Pros, and they were the ones who came out and confirmed that it wouldn't work.
 
people with the 1900xt, how does that run with current games (excluding crysis) tf2, ut3, fear, hl2, quake 4, bf2142.
 
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